For absentee ballot voters, election is over

Gloria Hall, left, of Worcester answers a question Friday for Li Chen, also of Worcester, about her absentee ballot at Worcester City Hall. Mrs. Hall had already voted on Thursday.

While bleary-eyed candidates were out this past weekend scouring neighborhoods for votes like pigeons looking for crumbs in winter, Frank Dennehy of Worcester was one of thousands of area residents who had already voted and put the election behind him.

Mr. Dennehy dropped by Worcester City Hall on Friday afternoon with his young daughter and, for the first time, filled out an absentee ballot at the Election Commission window on the second floor.

He won’t be able to vote at his normal polling place tomorrow because he’s away traveling on business this week.

“It was easy,” he said on Friday after sealing his ballot in an envelope and handing it over to be opened and counted on Election Day.

“I’m going to try to do it this way every time now, even if I’m not away for work,” he quipped.

The Election Commission had a steady stream of people coming in to drop off absentee ballots all afternoon, the three lines sometimes backing up with two or three people in each.

“We’ve had people coming in for weeks now,” said Joshua D. Meduna, Worcester’s assistant director of elections.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is noon today, but the secretary of state’s office recommends applying sooner. A completed ballot must be received by the time the polls close on Election Day to be counted.

Marlene Mercier also stopped by City Hall on Friday afternoon to pick up an absentee ballot before leaving for a trip. Ms. Mercier wasn’t sure if she’d make it home in time to vote at the polls, and she wasn’t taking any chances.

“I have to vote. It is very, very important to me,” she said.

She took the ballot home with her to look it over carefully and planned to return to the Election Commission later on Friday afternoon to return the filled out form, she said.

In an early, unscientific indication of a potentially big turnout at the polls tomorrow, city and town clerks around the region were reporting a crush of absentee ballot voting at their counters and windows late last week.

Shrewsbury Town Clerk Sandra Wright said on Friday afternoon that her staff had collected 1,980 absentee ballots and counting.

“They’ve been coming in by mail steadily for a while and now over the counter,” Ms. Wright said.

By comparison, her staff processed 1,650 absentee ballots during the last presidential election four years ago.

“Whenever there’s a presidential election it goes way up, and there’s more voters in town now,” she said.

Millbury Town Clerk Jayne Davolio said she, too, had been busy handling absentee ballots last week.

Her staff had collected 435 absentee ballots by mail and at the counter as of Friday afternoon. During the last presidential election, the office processed 388 absentee ballots, she said.

The pre-election uptick in absentee ballots returned, compared to total absentee ballots cast in 2008, won’t necessarily translate into higher turnout, however, because the rolls of registered voters have increased since then as well.

But some observers expect a large turnout, even for a presidential election year, given the added interest brought by the hotly contested U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren.

“This year, you’ve got a hot Senate race and a presidential election, too, so we should have a good turnout,” predicted Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Secretary of State William F. Galvin.